Balancing environment, development is a key to success

New Delhi, Oct 17 (UNI) Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz today favoured balance environment and development process as a key for sustainability of water.

Addressing the 10th inter-regional conference on ''Water and Environment (ENVIROWAT 2007)-Ensuring Water and Environment for Prosperity and Posterity'', here he said there were instances of over exploitation of the scarce water resources in some areas and it was definitely not desirable.

The National Water Policy stressed on sustainable development and the scarce water resources have to be planned, developed, conserved and managed through an integrated and environmentally sound basis keeping in mind needs and socio-economic aspects of the states.

He said comprehensive and integrated planning for development and management of water resources can be achieved only when all the stakeholders joined hands.

''We can derive optimum benefits from the most previous gift of the nature i.e. water and also ensure the benefits for our future generation only by adopting integrated approach in planning and management through mutual co-operation,'' he said.

All sections of society -- government agencies, planners, users, non-governmental organisations, academia and industries have to play a role in this endeavour.

On the ground water, Prof Soz said it was an important sources of drinking water and irrigation. However excessive usage had not only lowered of the water table but also deteriorated the quality in certain areas.

The Government had constituted the Artificial Recharge of Ground Water Advisory Council for popularising the concept of artificial recharging as well as initiating Farmer's Participatory Action Research Programme in 5000 villages and training one water man and one water woman in each village with the objective of ensuring more crop and income per drop of water, he added.

UNI